IN(3D)USTRY presents the RESHAPE 17 | Programmable Skins design competition for innovative wearables

Online digital platform RESHAPE has launched the third edition of its innovative tech-oriented design competition. Co-organized by IN(3D)USTRY and Noumena Studio, RESHAPE 17 | Programmable Skins invites designers from a range of different fields to create innovative wearables that effectively rethink and reinvent conventional clothing in a way that emphasizes the interconnections between users, environment and data—an intersection which is increasingly relevant in our contemporary lives.

Building on the success of RESHAPE’s previous two challenges, RESHAPE 14 | Digital Craft and RESHAPE 15 | Wearable Technology, the RESHAPE 17 | Programmable Skins competition is inviting designers, architects, bio-engineers, students and professionals to conceive of wearable products that function as augmented prosthetic skins. The competition is seeking “innovative yet feasible” design concepts which integrate interdisciplinary processes and which can be showcased through physical prototypes.

This time focusing specifically on new materials and interactive relations. Fashion, a clear manifestation of the connections between environment, body and technology, offers a dynamic entryway into smart materials, biomaterials, sustainable production methods and new fabrication technologies, such as 3D printing.

For IN(3D)USTRY, RESHAPE also represents a mean to expand its reach beyond its core additive manufacturing solutions target toward an encompassing advanced manufacturing and fully digital, connected workflow. The direct involvement of leading consumer companies such as Adidas and Sony further testifies that large global companies are seeking new solutions for smarter and more sustainabile manufacturing processes. With the conference and show taking place at Fira de Barcelona next October, IN(3D)USTRY’s primary goal is to provide those solutions.

RESHAPE participants will have their submissions judged by a panel of experts from the fields of fashion design, digital fabrication and computation. Notable jurors include Simone Cesano, senior director of design operation as Adidas; Peter Hanappe, researcher at the Sony Computer Science Laboratory in Paris and founder of various startups; Miquel Serrano, Director of the IN(3D)USTRY From Needs to Solutions conference; and Areti Markopoulou, Academic Director at IAAC and founder of StudioP52. The full list of jurors can be found on RESHAPE’s website.

Submission requirements for the wearable design competition include a maximum of three A3 sized boards (vectorial pdf files only) which showcase the design and fabrication process of the innovative design concept. The boards should include photos of the physical prototype, diagrams, text and renders of the final design.

Participants are also asked to provide a short text (600 words) which details the design proposal and offers a realistic economic estimation of the product. Finally, a short mp4 video of maximum one minute about the proposed design should be included. Upon submission, projects will be judged on a scale of one to ten in three separate categories: concept idea, prototype fabricability and dissemination strategy. The first category will seek to find the projects that reimagine contemporary clothing in an inventive and experimental way while highlighting the connections between users, environment and data.

In addition to the prizes (a total of €2,700 will be distributed amongst the top 3 winners), the RESHAPE 17 | Programmable Skins competition offers entrants the possibility to partake in a RESHAPE Symposium organized in collaboration with In(3D)ustry. The event, set up to promote the exchange of ideas in various innovative fields such as additive manufacturing, fashion, product design and more, will feature a panel of experts from said fields who will come together to discuss opportunities for the development and applications of the submitted design proposals.